THE GLOBAL GAG RULE AND PUBLIC HEALTH

An April 2001 Scientific American two-page spread stated President Bush managed in "one fell swoop to alienate myriad" family-planning groups, women's health organizations, physicians and European allies. A memo to the U.S. Agency for International Development revived what is officially known as the Mexico City Policy--or, less formally, the Global Gag Rule." Many public health experts say the effects of this order may be more "devastating" than they were in 1984, when the policy was first introduced. link

BUSH REISSUES GLOBAL GAG RULE AS EXECUTIVE MEMORANDUM

Media outlets across the United States and abroad reported on bipartisan efforts to undo President Bush's restrictions on U.S. aid to international family planning organizations by means of the Congressional Review Act. Those efforts ended when Bush quietly signed an executive memorandum to reinstate the Mexico City policy "without fanfare or public notice" on March 28, as the AP noted in its story the next day.

The bipartisan push was covered March 20 by the Associated Press, Gannett News Service, and All Things Considered on National Public Radio; on March 21 by The New York Times, The Times Union (Albany, NY), The Bulletin's Frontrunner and CongressDaily; on March 22 by the Las Vegas Review-Journal; and on March 24 by CNN. Internationally, the effort was mentioned on March 21 by Agence France Presse and on March 22 by The International Herald-Tribune (Paris).

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced the repeal resolution. The Las Vegas Review-Journal noted that while many organizations are complying with the global gag rule, "at least half a dozen groups so far, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation and a U.S.-based nonprofit group called Ipas, have refused to change and will forgo U.S. payments." link

The New York Times quoted Reid as saying the effort "was not a payback" for other Bush administration actions that had strong conservative and business support but "will stand or fall on its own merits." link

On March 23, the Associated Press quoted White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer's explanation of Bush's response: "Hoping to scuttle a bid by congressional critics, the president has determined the most effective way to have his Mexico City policy carried out is through the issuance of a presidential memorandum." link On March 24, The Washington Post, Boston Globe and Associated Press also covered Bush's decision. AP and Reuters confirmed the March 28 action in stories picked up by many newspapers.  link

DEMOGRAPHICS

In a March 28 Associated Press story, a number of domestic and international outlets reported on China and India's latest census reports. China's population has grown to 1.26 billion people older, better educated and more urban, according to figures from the first nationwide census in a decade. link

On March 1, India's census estimated its population as 1.02 billion, representing 16.7 percent of humanity. Associated Press March 26 noted India also registered a 2.52 percent drop in its growth rate, an increase in its literacy rate and a more equal distribution between men and women. [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-India-Census.html?searchpv=aponlin e] The Los Angeles Times, United Press International, Agence France Press, BBC Monitoring, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Asia Press, Independence, Irish Times and Xinhua General News Service covered both the China and India census efforts. link

GLOBAL POPULATION COVERAGE

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) criticized Ghana's government for what it described as the "lack of express commitment" in its budget to the issue of maternal mortality, according to a March 19 story disseminated by Africa News. link

In two Seattle Post-Intelligencer stories by Tom Paulson on March 22, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced its appointment of PATH co-founder Gordon Perkin to direct its health initiative, and reported that its global quest to reduce diseases such as measles, polio, diphtheria or tetanus and poverty in Nigeria is "perhaps its biggest and best challenge." link]

The Bush Administration's decision to reject an international treaty to combat global warming "provoked a stunned and angry" reaction among America's allies in Europe and Japan, according to the March 29 Washington Post. The New York Times and the Boston Globe also reported on Bush's decision and reaction to it, along with many other outlets. link

INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING

On March 27, The Washington Post reported on how a victim of China's birth control policy was still struggling to win payment years after a "rare" court victory against local officials who forced her to have an unsafe abortion that left her sterile. The newspaper said her case was "just another abuse in China's decades-long struggle to keep its population under control." link

Agence France Press reported March 16 that the French government is raising the amount in children's benefits checks so as to quadruple the total of state subsidies given to mothers to look after their babies. New policies also give new mothers nearly three years at home. However, opposing women's groups and analysts point to the "difficulty women will confront re-entering the work force."

According to The Hindu on March 19, the Indian Economic Survey 2000 refers to gender inequity in India as an issue for the first time since the country's independence. The survey was outlined in the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy's report on Gender Budgeting.

OTHER RELATED STORIES

A March 16 cover story in the National Catholic Reporter cited reports from senior members of women's religious orders alleging that some Catholic clergy exploit their financial and spiritual authority to gain sexual favors from women in local religious orders. Many of these women, especially in African and other developing countries, are culturally conditioned to be subservient to men, the article said.link This story was also covered by The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Times Union (Albany, NY), and by international outlets including Agence France Presse, The Independent (London), Irish Times (Ireland) and International Herald Tribune (Paris).

In a March 21 Agence France Press story, Russian health officials warned that Russia is one of the world's leading nations in abortions and maternal mortality, with an annual abortion tally exceeding two million. They called for "radical" measures to check the rise of abortion. Another March 21 story by Agence France Press noted Russia's health ministry reported a 4 percent drop in Russia's infant mortality rate, from 16.4 infant deaths per thousand births to 15.8.

The Slovakia office of statistics found that "most Slovaks oppose a ban on abortions," according to a March 22 Associated Press story. Some 64 percent of Slovaks believe that pregnant women and not the law should have the right to decide whether to have an abortion.

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute wrote in a March 18 op ed in The Washington Post that the "preoccupation with high fertility and rapid population growth leaves us poorly prepared to comprehend (much less respond to) emerging demographic trends. These trends include the extreme birth dearth in both Europe and Japan, the graying of the population, and the unexpected mortality spike." link

Richard Cincotta of Population Action International responded to Eberstadt's piece in a March 27 letter saying, "Eberstadt ignores the reality that rapid population growth is a real challenge outside the industrialized world. To deny women the life-saving family planning services that would lower these grim statistics is foolish and immoral." link

Contrary to Eberstadt's view, Douglas Southgate of Ohio State University's Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics wrote a March 26 Columbus Dispatch op ed titled "Population Bomb Was a Demographic dud." He noted, "many are opting for fewer offspring in a sure sign of profound socioeconomic progress." link

On March 29, the Kansas City Star printed an op ed that criticized President Bush's "overturning or delaying President Clinton's directives on the environment, family planning and other matters" with an almost "cavalier" attitude.

"Outside of Africa, India likely has the world's most worrisome AIDS crisis," stated a March 27 New York Times editorial. "India is an example of the perils of starting late...with little heath infrastructure and hapless governments." link

The Boston Globe ran a March 29 op-ed by senior fellow Loretta McLaughlin of the Harvard AIDS Institute titled, "Bush's Myopia on AIDS Prevention." She wrote, "Bush must be made to realize the potential for dire consequences resulting from his ill-timed [Mexico City Policy] executive order." In addition, she said, "across Africa, it is largely through these local family planning centers that condoms are distributed free of charge and are coupled with rigorous anti-HIV/AIDS advice."

A March 22 editorial in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh's micro-credit lending program to the world's poorest women that has helped reduce poverty around the world. It stressed that the international financial and business community needs to understand microcredit as a "self-sustaining alternative to public charity." link

The above analysis was written at the Communications Consortium Media Center, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005, 202/326-8700. Redistribution is encouraged with credit to CCMC.

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